Skin Deep
by lye tea
Summary: Beauty is ugliness marred. 50 sentences. Ozai/Ursa


**a u t h o r ' s.note.** Written for 1sentence at LJ.

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**Skin Deep **

_1 – Walking_

They went on strolls often, when she was still pregnant with Zuko, and he would hold her hand, wondering why there was a terrified smile on her face.

_2 – Waltz_

Waltzing was formal; she was not.

_3 – Wishes _

The best of the best for their children (best quality, no ten-piece silver, no tin) and for her: the world.

_4 – Wonder _

In wonder, they lived, fed off each other and grew, flourished, and there always remained the barest vestiges of unhealthy and wrong.

_5 – Worry _

The days grew long, and her stomach grew large, and she grew worried because her second child was coming (and they weren't prepared).

_6 – Whimsy_

Mercurial and fun, his older brother was enchanting, while Ozai was frightening.

_7 – Wasteland _

In this wasteland she called marriage, there could never be happiness, just contents and discontents.

_8 – Whiskey and rum _

Ozai drank whiskey well into the night, drowned sorrows and guilts (and horrors he's seen and done), but Ursa preferred rum—harsher and raw, more brutal.

_9 – War _

Of war, of the animus and savagery, there was no end, not while people existed and killed, but Ursa knew deep down that it was all his fault.

_10 – Weddings _

She cried on her wedding day, thought back to her sister's and how happy the other had been and why she was so unhappy (unlucky).

_11 – Birthday _

The winter of Azula's third birthday was ruthlessly cold, snow swam in the skies and the sun could not penetrate through, and so, Ozai shivered alone while his wife was silently cheering.

_12 – Blessing_

A blessing was no more than a pretty lie, a falsehood undiluted and poignant, like her kisses on his lips.

_13 – Bias _

There was no bias; it was simple—she loved Zuko the best.

_14 – Burning _

Love burns, love fades, love cannot stretch more than a decade (not for her).

_15 – Breathing_

Her breathing grew rapid, churned, _hoarse and guttural_, like there was something at her throat.

_16 – Breaking_

The arrow split in midair, blew across the four winds and one found place in her heart.

_17 – Belief_

Beliefs were difficult to extirpate, difficult to extricate, and difficult to forfeit—like he wanted her to.

_18 – Balloon_

Ozai felt his heart burst and soar: she agreed to marry him.

_19 – Balcony_

Over the balcony and over the roof, someone fell, someone died.

_20 – Bane_

Her afflictions were great, and she was his anathema (his Princess Bete Noire).

_21 - Quiet _

"Hush," she says, "you'll feel better in the morning, like nothing has happened, like it was always just you and me."

_22 – Quirks_

Everyone has a peculiarity, and hers was the talent of turning to stone, like a marble statue chiseled and noble, nobly sad.

_23 – Question _

"Ask me something, anything you like, except if I love you truly or not."

_24 – Quarrel_

Two had a fight, an altercation, a scream resonating, and in the morning, there was only one.

_25 – Quitting_

Ursa thought the royal affair was getting old, and so she left, just like that.

_26 – Jump_

Look before you jump (unless you intentionally want to fall, like she did).

_27 – Jester_

Everyone knew he was the court fool, but it was so _unfair_, so _awful_ that his pretty little wife must suffer too.

_28 – Jousting_

When chivalry's all but dead, there would be no more challenges for the lady's heart, she'd just become a harlot for anyone to steal.

_29 – Jewel _

A diamond sparkled like none other, better than any ruby or opal; Ursa was the diamond left in the dust, after the finer ones have been cut, polished, and sold.

_30 – Just_

What is fair?—not this, she replied.

_31 – Smirk_

His infamous smirk taunted her, and so, she threw retorts and daggers right back.

_32 - Sorrow _

Grief is a power weapon, he knew, and used.

_33 – Stupidity _

Ozai was a fool, for believing she loved him, for suspecting she did not.

_34 – Serenade _

She used to question why he never sang for her, and then inquired, and that became fire and _that_ became dire.

_35 – Sarcasm _

"My heart weeps for you, the Everything."

_36 – Sordid_

A tryst was sordid, an open declaration was even more horrid.

_37 – Soliloquy_

Banished, she learned to speak with birds and insects, told them her story, told them of the man she vowed to forget.

_38 – Sojourn_

A delegation partied arrived one day, urgently proclaimed where his mother was hidden, and Zuko nearly died from shock and jubilation—nearly.

_39 – Share_

"Care to share?" she said, "No, I don't think so," he answered (not with you, _her_).

_40 – Solitary_

Loneliness is a state of mind, because she never complained.

_41 – Nowhere_

Nowhere ends here: the pebbles are beaten and her shoes are scuffed, and her son is waiting around the bend.

_42 – Neutral_

Ozai chose a side, and so did she, and when the war was over, there was no winner—just the number of deaths, the casualties.

_43 – Nuance_

Subtlety and subterfuge, never let him see a smile, never reveal a thought.

_44 – Near_

Near and far, she feared when he was furious, like a sword unsheathed and ringing in the air.

_45 – Natural_

Act natural, after all, they were husband-and-wife.

_46 – Horizon _

Beyond the horizon and the moon and stars, Ursa can see him coming, come to take her home and brush the hundred

years' tears away.

_47 – Valiant_

Valiant and vainglorious both started with v, and so did vexation (with him).

_48 – Virtuous_

Ursa was a virtuous woman, never sinned, was so righteously righteous that she was martyred.

_49 – Victory _

Victory was worse than defeat, out of his triumphs, she was lost and never found.

_50 – Defeat _

Defeated and fatigued, Ozai settled in for the night, embraced his wife and thought _if only things were different_—but they weren't and that was reality.


End file.
